الفهرس 
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Abstract
E
gypt has the highest worldwide HCV prevalence estimated at 15%. Furthermore, chronic infection with HCV is the leading cause of end-stage liver disease and liver-related death and the main indication for liver transplantation. miRNA16 is a miRNA supposed to regulate innate immune response, inflammatory response and antiviral pathway.
TGFβ and interferon signaling pathways play an important role in immunity against HCV infection. The similarities between downstream effectors of the TGFβ signaling pathway (i.e., Smads) and interferon pathway (i.e., IRFs) suggest their association in a functional crosstalk involved in the immune response against HCV infection.
The current study aimed to evaluate the expression of miRNA16, Smad7 and IRF3 in Egyptian patients infected with HCV, compared to their expression in healthy controls to reveal possible impact of miRNA16 on TGFβ signaling pathway and the possible relation between TGFβ and INF antiviral pathways. A case-control study was conducted on 25 subjects: 16 HCV patients, age and gender matched with 9 healthy controls. Blood samples were collected and processed to measure the required parameters.
When compared to the healthy controls there was a significant increase regarding the expression of miRNA16 (p=0.003) and a significant decrease in the expression of both Smad7 (p=0.003) and IRF3 (p<0.001) in HCV patients. However, there was no significant difference between low and high viremia patients’ groups regarding expression of the three parameters.
A significant negative correlation was found between expression of miRNA16 and Smad7 (r=-0.638, p=0.008). On the other hand, no significant correlation was found between expression of IRF3 and expression of either miRNA16 or Smad7.
Receiver Operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed 75% sensitivity and 100% specificity at a cut-off value of 2.02 fold for miRNA16, 69% sensitivity and 100% specificity at a cut-off value of 0.8 fold for Smad7 and 93.75% sensitivity and 100% specificity at a cut-off value of 0.8 fold for IRF3.